Category: Reconquista

A Muslim army from Morocco defeated the Visigothic King of Spain in 711 AD and over the next few years imposed Islamic rule over much of the Iberian Peninsular. But a rump Christian state remained and over many centuries managed to reconquer Spain and Portugal.

I’m in the process of putting my Medieval Spanish or Portuguese onto Big Bases. since I want to use them for Big Base DBA I thought I’d have a look at the army list in DBA 3.0. Well, it is different to that is DBA2.2, so I thought I’d do a side by side comparison.

The DBA army list IV/68 Medieval Spanish Or Portuguese 1340AD-1485AD is the Christian army at the tail end of the Reconquista. Mostly the armies this list represents fought each other. This post is part of my series on Troop Identities in DBA Army Lists.

The DBA army list III/34 Andalusian 710AD-1172AD is one of the two main Muslim armies of the Reconquista. I think the standard DBA list is pretty rubbish due to the high number light infantry. I don’t like it because it makes for a very weak army in DBA but also because it isn’t particularly historical. I’ll post a revision in due course. This post is part of my series on Troop Identities in DBA Army Lists.

I play DBA quite a lot and with my current enthusiasm for Big Bases I’m rebasing my ancients and medieval armies for Big Base DBA. To help with that process I wanted to know what nationalities the DBA elements correspond to.

This is a skirmish level mini-campaign set in no-mans land on a fairly static front. It is applicable to any period (see the possible settings). Each player is a junior commander whose job is the patrol and control the area between the opposing forces. Over three game days and nights each player must plan and execute 6 missions from a predetermined list. The interest lies in the fact that each player is picking from a different list to that of his opponent. The key problem being addressed is “How does a commander react when faced with events not covered by

“Better to pasture camels than be a swine-herd” (Al-Mutamid of Seville)

With the Christians putting increasing pressure on the Muslims of the south, the Taifa kings were forced to call upon their Moroccan brethren for assistance. This wasn’t an easy decision but in the end each decided it was better than subjugation by the Christians.

When Al-Muzaffar – Al-Mansur’s son – died in 1008 the power in Al-Andalus was divided between three factions or parties (Taifas): the old nobility of either Arab or Berber origin, recent Berber mercenaries, and the “Slavs” (slaves, often European, with Military of Civil roles). The factions started taking over long before the last of the Umayyad Caliphs, Hisham III, disappeared in 1031. The period closes when the Taifa kings call upon the Moroccan Al-Murabitun to protect them from the encroaching Christians.

A sub-branch of the Umayyad family ruled Spain from 755 until 1030. These were the glory years for the Muslims in Spain. Although puppet Caliphs lingered on until 1031, the power of the Umayyad’s was broken by 1002 when the vizier Al-Mansur died.

This is a list of most of the Taifa Kingdoms (Collins, 1983; Fletcher, 1992; Menéndez, 1934; Kennedy, 1996; Wikipedia: Taifa). I can’t guarantee if it is complete. I’ve taken the Arabic names for the Tailfas from the excellent, but seemingly defunct, Al-Andalus site.